localresident

Wiseup, I'd blame Cuomo and a less-than-strategic-thinking administration. They plead "We're doing all we can", but it's all about which unnecessary admin's/super's job can stay in tact and contain a more bloated salary at the same time. After all, it is these same ineffective admins who can't negotiate (contracts), and are so stuck in the box they can't even see outside it, much less think that way.

Christopher

Schools have declined ever since the federal Government made education a cabinet post. The more interference from outside, the worse things have gotten. I don't know the answers, but I do know that things like "No Child left Behind" and hundreds of other mandates have hog tied most teachers, even the best ones. Unfunded mandates are killing us all.

momof3kids

It's not a matter of teachers not being able to "take the heat". Do some research on the Common Core and Race to the Top. Both HIGHLY profitable government and corporate programs that our schools are having forced upon them by clueless state ed departments. Standardized testing is NOT beneficial to students learning. The collection of student data is frightening. Read about the TRUE objective of the Common Core and Race to the Top. Look at the hand Pearson Publishing has in buying our children's education. It's disgusting. What our schools need to do is stand up to the DOE and reject standardized testing. Parents need to refuse to allow their children to be tested in the high stakes way that they are. I'm not against tests or accountability, I'm against children being used as pawns in some corporate game of greed. Why does a 3rd grader need to take HOURS of bubble tests to prove if they're career ready? These standards are taking real teaching away and eliminating creativ

momof3kids

(continued) eliminating creative learning. The best teachers are being suffocated by the standards. What happened to children being looked at as individuals? Teaching is an individualized profession. There is a need to observe the children and mold curriculum based on what will benefit them all. The Common Core takes individualism away and thrives on the premise that children are all equal in their learning. Anyone who has children knows that nothing could be farther from the truth. Children are unique and can't be expected to learn at the same pace. Some children are capable of more, some less. Our schools need to defend our children to the DOE and say enough is enough and reject the countless hours of testing. Countless hours that could be better utilized on teaching instead of testing.